Lifeline
by GrimM Bbliss
Summary: <html><head></head>After breaking a vase, Lark Martin must work as a Host in the Ouran High School Host Club.  No one realizes her gender, so to pay her debt, 1,000 guests must request her.  Can she work through her deep emotional scars and connect with people, the world?</html>
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everybody! I'm starting a new fanfic about this show my friends have made me start watching that I've fallen in love with. Any of my regular readers know that I'm probably going to royally screw over this show/manga, so any hardcore fans might want to look away. **

**I don't own Ouran High School Host Club or any of the characters except my OC's.**

**That's about it, so I'll get on with the story!**

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><p>"Hello? Is anyone there?" I was lost in my new school. Everyone else had already gone home, but I had fallen asleep in the library. How I fell asleep I had no idea, because everyone was so loud. This place was so huge, I couldn't even find anything familiar to find my way out now. "Hello?"<p>

I started running. I hated these huge empty corridors. The sooner I got out, the better. My dad was probably worrying, and he got a little nuts when I wasn't on time or forgot to call him. I was really getting panicked, and opened the first door I saw. A flurry of rose petals spun out of the door.

"Welcome to the Host Club, Princess…" Behind the door were 6 of the handsomest boys I had ever seen in my life. The tall blonde was the one who was talking. "Oh, I'm sorry. Welcome, young Prince."

I stood there incredulously. I looked at the boys for a moment, too stunned to say anything. I'd only been here a week and I'd heard of them. They were a harem. They were here to please the girls of the school who had nothing better to do than to sit around and fawn over them. So basically all the girls but me. As I was standing there, the blonde started talking again.

"It's not often we get male guests here at the Host Club. However, we aim to please. What is it you like?" He looked at me expectantly. They thought I was a boy, and I saw no need to correct them. That's what I was going for, anyway. That's why I opted out of gym class and had a special fake-but-real-looking torso made to cover my breasts and make my hips look less like a girl's.

"Listen, I'm not here for your business, I'm just looking for the way out. I fell asleep in the library and got turned around. Could one of you tell me how I get out of this labyrinth of a school?" Behind me, the door opened. I spun around and jumped back. As I did, I ran into something, a table holding what looked like a porcelain urn. I tried to grab it, but it slipped right through my fingers. Cursing under my breath in English, I watched helplessly as it smashed into the ground.

"It's like watching myself on my first day here," said the person who had walked in behind me. He chuckled. "I'll go get the broom." The boy walked off to a back room to get a broom.

"That was probably expensive, wasn't it?" The blonde one turned to me.

"Yes, it was. It was a Ming. And you broke it. It used to be a complete set, but between you and Haruhi we only have one." His face got kind of watery and he crouched down in a corner, sulking.

"It was worth 8,000,000 yen," said one of the twins. I cringed. "And you don't look like you can pay it back. You'll have to work it off." They were talking deadpan, and I couldn't tell them apart, so it was like one person was talking. "This is just like with Haruhi. Do you think he's like Haruhi? Should we ask Kyoya? He knew last time right away." They had descended into their own world. Like no one else was there.

"What makes you think I can't pay it back?" They raised an eyebrow and motioned to my appearance. "I'm a slob, not poor." I scowled at them. "I'll pay it back, but I don't have the cash on me. Someone could come by my house and pick the money up."

The really short one with blonde hair and really big brown eyes walked over so he was directly under me. "You talk funny. You're the American transfer student, right? You're in my German class!"

"Oh, course I am. I already speak German fluently, but the school said I still had to take the class. They said I had to take English, too, and that's my first language. They're letting me take classes from above my year, though, so I can't complain." I crouched down to his level. "I know who you are, but I didn't think you knew who I was." I noticed the stuffed rabbit he was holding. "I like your bunny. What's its name?" He smiled brightly at me.

"This is Usa-chan! Isn't he adorable?" He held him out to me. "Do you want to hold him?" I took him gently.

"He's so soft!" I rubbed Usa-chan against my cheek. "How do you keep him so silky?" He smiled again.

"It's a secret, okay?" I handed Usa-chan back to Mitsukuni. "And my friends call me Hunny. You can, too." He took Usa-chan and skipped over to a towering boy, then crawled on his back.

"Well, can anyone show me how to get out of here?" I stood up and dusted my hands off. "Like I said a minute ago, I have the money for the stupid jar at my house. I just need to get home to get it." I crossed my arms and waited.

"Hunny and Mori will go with you!" Hunny said. Mori, with Hunny on his back, started walking to the door. I followed, but someone called for us to stop.

"No, that's club money." The boy with black hair and glasses was talking. "Since I'm club manager, I have to go." The blonde one who had been sulking perked up.

"If you're going, then I'm going. I am club president, after all." He struck a pose, hand on hip, hair thrown back.

"Hey, we don't want to be left here! If everyone else is going, we want to, too!" That was the twins. I guess they didn't want to be left out. The boy who went to get the broom walked back into the room.

"Are we making this a field trip? Because if we are, I need a minute to clean up the Ming." He started sweeping the mess up into a dustpan. I shook my head disbelievingly. These guys were nuts.

"Are we going now? Now that everyone is coming?" I crossed my arms and looked at my watch. "I need to get home soon, so could someone _please _get me out of here?" Glasses bowed slightly and motioned towards the door with one arm.

"This way." With that, we all filed out into the hallway. Next stop, home.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"WHAT?" I clamped a hand over my mouth so I wouldn't shout again. Trying to get my breathing under control again, I looked at my father in disbelief. "What do you mean you won't pay for it? That's not fair! I didn't knock it over on purpose!"

"I think it'll be good for you to get involved in a club, even if it is by force. You haven't done anything with kids your own age since you were eight. That's the end of it." I took a deep breath. Switching to Italian so that the boys outside couldn't understand me, I started arguing loudly.

"I don't connect with kids my age! In New York everyone was scared of you and your money, except for the kids who wanted to take advantage of the money! In North Carolina, everyone hated me because of how I dress! Here, everyone is just as rich, and to them I'm just some asshole who ignores everyone! The only person who understood me was Mark, and he's gone!"

Exasperated, I threw myself into a chair. It tipped backwards and I tumbled onto the floor. With a sudden idea, I jumped up and ran out of my dad's office. Barreling past the boys, I ran up to my room. Diving under my bed, I opened a wooden box that I had stuffed full of cash since I was little. I got an allowance, but rarely spent it, so I had a lot of spare dough.

"Okay, so the value of the dollar has gone down, but converted into yen…" I did some quick calculating in my head. "Nowhere near enough. Shit. Shit!" I pounded on the floor with my fist. A few tears squeezed out of my eyes, and I roughly wiped them away. "I do _not _want to do this! Damn it!"

I crawled out from under the bed and stretched. Staying on my knees and leaning as far back as I could, I tried to loosen the muscles that had started to tighten in my stomach. I was getting stressed, and it was getting close to the twenty-eighth of the month, so I was cramping. My door opened. I pulled my legs out from under me then propelled myself onto my hands then onto my feet.

"I don't have the money and my dad says he's not paying for it, so I guess I have to work it off…" I didn't look at any of them directly. "What exactly would I be doing, if I were working for you?" No one said a word. They were all standing around, slack-jawed and staring. "What are you guys staring at?"

"Who did all these drawings?" The blonde seemed to be the spokesperson, because the rest just seemed stunned. My room was kind of startling. On one side, everything was covered with papers that I had drawn on; the bed was half covered, too. But on the other, it was starkly empty. There was only a bed, a guitar, and a light blue urn on a shelf.

"I did them. I'm sort of an artist. I used to do photography, and some painting, but I've stuck with sketching for a while. What does that have to do with what we're talking about? They're not that good." They looked at me, eyes wide. The blonde started talking again.

"Not that good? They're amazing!" He picked a stray sheet of paper off the floor. I caught a glimpse of what it was before he got it fully in front of him and started blushing like mad. I snatched it out of his hand and shoved it into my pocket. "Why don't you want me to see that one? What was it?" He reached for it, but I jumped back.

"Oh, nothing. Just a piece I did for a girl I know. I always keep copies of commissions. But I thought I threw that one away…" I rubbed the back of my neck with my hand. I wasn't paying attention, and he took it out of my pocket. When he got a good look at it, his entire face turned red, and mine turned even redder.

"Um, ah…" For the first time since I met him, the blonde dude was at a loss for words. The rest of the club looked over his shoulder, and their faces turned red, too. I rubbed the back of my neck again.

"She wanted something to send her boyfriend, who was stationed overseas, but she didn't want to do a photo, so she had me draw her…" I grabbed the paper and crumpled it up. "Anyway, what exactly will I be doing if I'm working for you?" Now I really didn't want to look any of them in the eye.

"Club meeting!" The blonde pulled the rest of the boys into a football huddle. After what looked like a heated debate, the blonde turned to me. "Starting today, you are a Host! We don't have an artist type, and we must constantly adapt to please our guests, so you will pay off your debt by having 1,000 requests for your services. Oh, and wear your proper uniform tomorrow."

"Okay… I'll show you out, now." I opened the door and gestured for them to leave. "This way, please." I shut down a little on the inside and polite Lark came out. I led the club to the front of the house, way below my room. I was on autopilot, answering any questions with the least words possible. I would have rather been a butler or something. I wasn't a very nice person, so I'd never pay off my debt.

"I think we can get back in time to open up for today, so if you'll come with us?" I followed them to the limo they had come in and slid in after the twins. And as of then, I was a Host. Welcome to Hell.

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><p><strong>Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. <strong>

**Review.**

**Now.  
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	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to ****At the Heart of the Storm ****for reviewing and adding to **_**Lifeline **_**their favorites and alerts, and to ****Darka Moon ****for it adding to their alerts. I'll try not to let you both down. Again I'll say that any hard-core fans should look away. For reference to my destructive powers, just look at **_**Making Up for Lost Time**_**. I totally farked that up.**

**And I'll say again, I don't own Ouran High School Host Club or any characters except Lark and her family.**

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><p>I rocked my chair back onto two legs, barely paying attention to the teacher. Kaoru frowned at me and motioned that I should put my chair down, but I just stuck my tongue out at him. Just as the teacher was about to look our way, I slid the legs neatly back into place and stared intensely at the blackboard. Writing down quickly what was on the board, I really tried to focus on the lesson, but my eyes kept wandering to the window. It was a beautiful day, and I was stuck in a classroom.<p>

Just as I thought I was going to go insane, the bell for the end of the day rang. I bolted out the door, ignoring the calls from the twins to wait for them. I wanted to be outside, soaking up the sun. I stood by a railing and just took a deep breath of the fresh air. I hated the cramped feeling of the classroom.

As I looked over the edge of the rail, someone bumped into me. Normally, I would have been fine, but I was already off balance because I was only standing on the toes of one foot, and that person sent me tumbling over the edge. Plummeting to the ground, I yelled and tried to grab something, but there was nothing I could do to even slow my fall. I hit the brick courtyard with a sickening snap and crunch. I didn't feel any pain yet, but I was feeling lightheaded. The last thing I thought before I passed out was that I hoped my hand was okay.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

My eyes popped open. I was being carried somewhere. I squirmed around until whoever was carrying me stopped. My arm was killing me and my side hurt. Being carried by someone who didn't know where I hurt was not helping.

"Put me down," I gasped hoarsely. "You're just making it worse. My arm is broken, and you're smashing it against your chest." I tried to take a deep breath, but it felt like my chest was going to explode. "I think I broke a rib, too."

"You need to get to the medical center." It was the twins who had somehow caught up to me. I narrowed my eyes.

"Well take me there, but let me walk on my own!" I felt like I was going to start screaming, or crying, or both. Either would be an acceptable reaction in this situation, but I held it back. How, I had no idea, because I was a major wimp, but I did it. He set me down.

We started slowing moving, Hikaru moving ahead and clearing a path, Kaoru making sure I didn't fall over or anything. I was afraid to look at my arms and see a huge mangled mass of blood and tissue, so I just kept moving. I was half bent over because my lungs were killing me, and I was cradling my left arm to my chest. I couldn't move it, and I was still praying that my hand was alright. We finally made it there, and I let Kaoru help me in, but made sure he didn't touch my arm.

"You two go on to the club," I said, pushing them out the door. They looked like the were going to protest, but I shut the door in their face. "I have a problem," I said to the doctor who was sitting there, looking like he had just been reading a magazine, which he dropped. "How bad does it look? I think my arm and a few ribs are broken."

"Do you think you can take your jacket off and roll up your sleeve? I need to get a look at your arm." I eased out of my jacket and undid the buttons on my sleeve. I carefully pulled it back, terrified that the bone would be sticking out. The area was bruised a deep purple, but thankfully there was no blood. "Just looks like a closed fracture of the ulna. We'll need X-rays to confirm, but first lets look at your ribs. Take your shirt off, if you can."

"Um, could you help me with it? And I have something on under it that has to come off for you to see my ribs, too." I would have rather had the family doctor do this, because he knew my secret, but there might not be time to get him out here. When we tried to slide my shirt over my arm, I almost screamed. "Can you just cut it off? I have another uniform at home."

The doctor nodded and pulled a pair of weird scissors out of his lab coat pocket. They cut through the material easily, but I winced as they touched my arm. Even after being in his pocket, they were freezing. We got my shirt off, and I started pulling the waist of my pants down to get the edge of my fake torso. The doctor froze, and I guess he thought I was going to take them off. I took the material in my hand and pulled it up.

"I need your help for this, too. We can't cut this, though. I only have one." He helped me pull it over my head. Thank God I decided to put a sports bra on today. I didn't look at him, but I could almost feel when he pushed this knowledge aside. I glanced down as he touched my side, where there was a huge purple bruise like on my arm. I gasped and then tried to catch my breath without breathing deeply. "I think that's broken, doc."

"Yes, I think it is, too. Let's get them X-rayed to confirm and see exactly where." This school had an X-ray machine? Sometimes you could really see just how rich it was. He started to move me to a room which I assumed held the X-ray machine, when the door burst open.

"Lark, Hikaru and Kaoru told us that you fell from one of the walkways, and we came to make sure-" Tamaki paused mid-sentence when he actually looked at me. The twins looked smug, and announced that they knew the whole time. Mori, Hunny, and Haruhi didn't look surprised at all. Tamaki started sputtering. "You're… You're…" Kyoya's glasses flashed in the light and looked over me once.

"Well, she looks like she'll live. I'm leaving," Kyoya said and walked out of the room.

"He's obviously leaving because he's never seen a girl without her top before," said Hikaru. "But we should go, too. She probably wants privacy." They dragged Tamaki off, and the others walked off, making sure Tamaki didn't escape.

"Well, that was strange. But I remember needing a few X-rays, right?" The doctor nodded and led me to the X-ray room. We did the whole X-ray thing which is so boring I won't go to describe it, then took me back out into the main room. He held the film up to the light.

"Just like we thought. Closed fracture of the ulna and the 7th and 10th ribs. Well, I'm going to wrap your ribs and get your arm in a cast, then fax a prescription for Vicodin to a pharmacy. Until you can get it filled, I suggest you take two aspirin and take it easy." He started to gather the stuff to put my arm in a cast, which is also so boring I won't describe it.

"But my hand is okay, right doc?" I held my breath until he smiled.

"Your hand is fine. Your arm should be fine in a few weeks, because it was a clean break. Now, if you'll hold still so I can start your cast…"

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

I timidly stuck my head in the door of music room 3. Business was in full swing, and everyone stopped and looked my way. I wanted to turn and run the other way, but now that I'd showed up, I had to come in. I didn't have any other clothes at school, and no one would answer the phone at home, so I had to wear a spare shirt the doctor had with him. It was a sickly yellow that made me want to gag when I looked at it.

As soon as I stepped in, my regulars stampeded over. Even after only being here a week I had a gaggle of girls who requested me every day. They started petting me and asking me if I was in pain. They were all fawning over me like I was a little injured kitten. Even the other Host's guests were coming over.

"Yes, I'm fine," I assured them. "It's not as bad as it looks. For a fall that high, I got off lucky. Only two cracked ribs and a closed fracture on my ulna. Sadly, I won't be able draw until my arm is out of my cast." When I said that, they all got sad, but I smiled at them. "Ladies, I think you can wait the 6 weeks it will take for my arm to heal."

"But Lark," one of my regulars whined, "can't we have any of your old art?" I motioned for them to lean in and whispered conspiratorially.

"Well, I don't have any with me at the moment, but I'll talk to Kyoya about getting a book together." They all squealed. "Now, lets go sit down, ladies." We walked to a couch, and my regulars piled onto it. The rest reluctantly went back to their Hosts. The afternoon passed uneventfully. That is, until the guests left.

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><p><strong>Yes, I'm evil. I'm stopping right there. Spring break is over, so I won't be posting for a while. Mostly because I have a project due Friday that I haven't even started. However, I do plan on finishing this, and all my other fan fics. All I ask for is patience, and reviews.<strong>

**So make sure you review, and I'll try and get a chapter up fast! I love you all!**

**Hugs and Kisses,**

**Bbliss**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks again to ****At the Heart of the Storm ****for reviewing and adding to **_**Lifeline **_**their favorites and alerts, and to ****Darka Moon ****and ****S. McIntosh ****for adding it to their alerts. I'll try not to let you guys down. Again I'll say that any hard-core fans should look away. For reference to my destructive powers, just look at **_**Making Up for Lost Time**_**. I totally farked up Harry Potter.**

**And I'll say for the third time, I don't own Ouran High School Host Club or any characters except Lark and her family.**

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><p>As soon as the last guest left, I tried to bolt, but the club descended on me. I say the club, but it was really just Tamaki and the twins. Kyoya could care less, and was tapping around on his laptop. Mori and Hunny were eating more cake, and Haruhi was cleaning up. Before I could get fenced in I rushed back over to Haruhi.<p>

"Here, let me help you!" I grabbed up a tray with cups on it and balanced it precariously on my good hand. Kyoya glanced over.

"You break it and it goes on your tab, Lark." With that in mind, I took it by the handles and followed Haruhi to where the dishes were being washed.

"Is there a window back here that I can sneak out of?" I saw a small one about a foot over my head, and I tried to scramble into it. "Damn cast, it's as wide as the window. Otherwise I'd be out already."

"Why do you want to get out? It's just the guys out there." Haruhi set down her tray and turned to me. I turned to her.

"Because the guys are out there!" I leaned against a wall heavily. "They looked… Well, I don't know how to explain it, but it scared the hell out of me. I'll just hang out back here until they go home."

"You can't hide from your problems, Lark. Although that's easier sometimes." Haruhi smiled her Host smile at me and kept washing the dishes.

"I guess you're right, but I hate the questions that always come after people find out I'm not a boy." I slid down and sat on the floor. "I guess that the questions are better than getting beat up like where I lived before, though." I held up my arm. "This is not my first broken bone."

"Why did they break your arm?" Haruhi sat down in front of me and looked sort of concerned.

"Oh, not just my arm. A leg, and my collar bone, too. I was running a few miles for gym, and I started having an asthma attack. I had to get out of my fake torso, and so I ran back to the locker room. I didn't know anyone was in there, but someone saw me, I guess. The football team was waiting for me in the parking lot, saying that if I wanted to be a boy, I was going to get treated like one, so they beat the hell out of me and left me there."

"Nothing like that will happen to you while we're around. These guys are great, and the Host club takes care of our own." Haruhi's face got a set look, like she was going to make sure I didn't have to go through that again.

"Nothing like that's going to happen to ever again. After that I made sure I could take care of myself." I rested my head against the wall. "Well, I guess I should go out there and get it over with…" I didn't move.

"You haven't got up yet," Haruhi said uncertainly.

"I know. I'm trying to convince myself that this is a bad dream. I want to be able to open my eyes, and I'll be eight again, and Ma-" I stopped right there. I was going to say that Mark would still be alive, but I did want to get into that story. "I'm going to get up, I swear."

I slowly stood up and crept to the door. There was a suspicious lack of noise on the other side, and I could almost hear Tamaki waiting for me to say something. I held a finger up to my lips, telling Haruhi to be quiet, then put my eye up to the key hole. Sure enough, there was a blue-violet eye looking back at me. I opened the door, making Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru all fall in.

"It's not polite to eavesdrop, boys." I glowered at them. Tamaki's eyes got misty, and he rushed over and hugged me.

"Nothing bad will ever happen to you again! You're part of our family now. Daddy will take care of you!" He squeezed me to his chest.

"Ow, let go, you nut! You're squishing my arm!" I pulled away from him. "The sentiment is appreciated, but I'd also appreciate not having to reset my arm, if you don't mind." I took a deep breath. "Is everything almost wrapped up here? I have to get home." I picked up my bag and waited for an answer.

"I just have to finish up the final tally for today's profit and then you can go," Kyoya said. "Until then, just wait here." Kyoya went back to tapping on his computer, and I sat down in the window seat. I closed my eyes for a minute, and tried not to fall asleep. I had every right to fall asleep; it had been a very stressful day. I wanted to stay awake so I could go home on my own, though. But I was just … so… tired…

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

I opened my eyes and took a deep breath. I felt pretty okay for someone who had fell two stories. These meds rocked. I stretched my arms over my head and accidentally hit someone. I suddenly noticed that I wasn't in the window where I had been when I fell asleep.

"_Où sommes-nous_?" I looked up and saw a blonde head looking down at me. "_Quand avons-nous quitter la salle?_" I stifled a yawn. "I didn't mean to fall asleep." I sat up and groaned inwardly. It was just me and Tamaki. Alone. In a _very_ private limo.

"I told the club I'd take you home by myself so they didn't wake you up." Tamaki smiled at me softly. "The twins were going to take you, but…" He shook his head. "They're not the kind of boys a girl like you would want to be alone with."

"How would you know what kind of girl I am? You just found out I was a girl. I could have tons of horrible personality traits that you know nothing about." I rubbed my eyes with the heel of my palm. Tamaki smiled again and shook his head.

"No, you're a good person. I can tell." He put his hand on my chin. I looked up at him, startled.

"Oh, let me take my short hair off." I undid the bobby pins holding my short wig on. Sliding it off, I shook my actual hair out of its bun. "That thing gives me a headache when I sleep in it." Tamaki tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear.

"Why do you hide your hair? It's beautiful." He put his hand back under my chin and looked me full in the eyes. His face was really close to mine, and my breathing started getting shallow. "_You _are beautiful, Lark." I almost stopped breathing. Damn him, he was pulling me in with his charm. After what seemed an eternity, I took a deep, shuddering breath.

"Stop doing that." I closed my eyes and twisted my head.

"Doing what?" Tamaki sounded genuinely confused on what he was doing.

"Using your Host techniques on me." I scooted to the opposite side of the bench seat. "I don't know why you're doing it, but stop." I tried to catch my breath without him seeing how fast my heart was racing.

"I wasn't using my Host personality, Lark. I genuinely like you." He touched my shoulder. I laughed humorlessly and shook it off.

"You genuinely like all of them, Tamaki. And you lead them on, which is what they come to you for. They want all the romance of a relationship, but none of the commitment. I want the commitment, too. I've had too many people walk out of my life to want just a flirtation."

Tamaki sat there, stunned for a moment. I didn't move, like he might not say anything if I stayed perfectly still. When he started talking, the limo stopped. I shoved my wig into my bag and half-reached for the door, but stopped and looked back at Tamaki. He was so cute, and I really wanted to kiss him, but it would be wrong to start something; we had to see each other every day, so if things ended badly…

_What the hell_, I thought. _You only live once_. I lurched forward and pressed my lips to his. His arms went around my waist, and mine went around his neck. His tongue pressed against my lips, and I opened them. I felt like I was going wild, flying apart into a million pieces and zooming away to the far corners of the universe, while at the same time being completely grounded in the here and now.

After what felt like an eternity and no time at all, Tamaki pulled away. I closed my eyes and leaned back against the seat. I shouldn't have done that, but it felt so good. I slid a sideways glance at Tamaki. His perfectly golden hair was thrown into disarray, and he was breathing just as hard as I was. I wanted to reach over and kiss him senseless all over again, but we needed to figure this thing out.

"You know that if we start a relationship, we can't tell the club," I stated. "It would have to be a secret, and you're not a good actor." Tamaki got his watery-sad face, and almost started to sulk, but I pulled him back. "No, you have to focus. Don't go nuts on me now. You have to promise me you will do your best to keep this a secret."

"But, the club is my family. I can't keep something like this from them. I think Kyoya reads minds," his whispered to me. I shook my head.

"He doesn't read your mind, you just have the worst poker face in the world. But you need to promise you won't tell anyone." I held his face in my hands and stared into his eyes.

"I promise. You can count on me, Lark." Tamaki caressed my chin. I tried to keep from giggling, and it was really hard not to kiss him again. I pulled away reluctantly.

"I need to go in. But I'll see you tomorrow." I started to go, but turned and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. I turned away before he could see the blush on my face. I ran all the way up to my room, flopped down on my bed, and tried to keep from exploding into particles of pure happiness.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

The next morning, as I was getting ready for school, I shot a look at my wig. Smiling, I left it behind.

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><p><strong>Okay, so there's some French up in there, and it says "<em>Where are we?<em>" and "_When did we leave the room?_"**

**Review, please! I love you all, but I'm going to start kicking this story if you don't FREAKING REVIEW!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to S. McIntosh for reviewing! Ily, Sammeh! And your story is epic, too. Anyway, I don't have much to say before this chapter besides I'm super sorry for not getting this up for so long, so I'll just get on with it!**

**But I'll say for a fourth time, I don't own Ouran High School Host Club or any characters except Lark and her family.**

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><p>"Lark, I just love your hair! Why did you keep it hidden for the beginning of the year?" That was one of the most common things I've heard recently, and I heard it again this afternoon. After I stopped wearing my wig, I had twice as many guests. My hair was pretty sexy, I guess. One of my regulars started braiding it or something. I shrugged.<p>

"Well, at my last school, people made fun of me because my hair is long like a girls. I didn't want to cut it because my best friend who lived in New York likes how long I can keep it, so I just started wearing the wig and saying I got it cut. I didn't know if everyone here would be like back in North Carolina, but someone convinced me to show my real hair." I smiled at Tamaki over my guest's shoulder.

"Ooh, let me braid his hair, Kaiyo!" One of my regulars jumped up and started trying to take my hair from the other girl. "It's my turn! You did it yesterday!" They both started tugging on my hair, practically ripping it out of my head.

"Ow, ladies! Please stop pulling!" I looked over for help at Kyoya, but he was tapping obstinately at his computer. From where I was at, it looked like he could have been laughing to himself. Mori looked over at me, and I mouthed _"Help me" _at him. He whispered in Hunny's ear, then walked over.

"Ladies," he said shortly, and they stopped pulling. He split my hair down the middle and handed one part to each of them, then walked away. I found it amazing how everyone froze when he started talking. I breathed a sigh of relief and started rubbing the fingers that were in the cast absentmindedly.

"Lark, is your cast hurting you?" All my regulars started fawning over me instantly. I inhaled sharply then let it out slowly.

"No, my fingers are just itching to be drawing again. I can't wait to have this stupid thing off. I have an appointment to have it taken off after club." I smiled at them. "But I appreciate your concern, my beautiful friends. I think the first thing I'll do tomorrow is draw you all, then treasure the piece forever." They giggled.

I couldn't believe that these girls actually believed some of the flowery things I said. I tried to say things that would send me running for the hills if someone said them to me, but they ate it up. I looked up at the clock, willing it to go faster. It was almost time for the guests to go, but it was like Kyoya was extending business hours just to inconvenience me. I excused myself from the girls for a moment and headed over to Kyoya. I bent over and put my mouth next to his ear.

"Hey, you wouldn't be keeping everyone late because I have an appointment with the orthopedist, would you?" I murmured into his ear. "Because I know just as well as you do that my booklets are selling well with me unable to make anything new. But I want to know if you've considered this: If I make new booklets, won't that make double the profit on initial sell? Now, I'm suggesting you go ahead and close up shop, because I need to be out of here in time to get to my appointment."

I smiled at him and walked back over to my guests. They all moved out of my seat without my asking, and then started asking me what I had been talking to Kyoya about.

"Oh, nothing," I said, waving the question away. "Now, ladies, I know that tomorrow is Saturday, but I really would like to start on the piece for you, so if I could get a picture?" I pulled my digital camera out of my bag and motioned for them to all get together on the couch. "Okay, ladies. Smile!" I snapped a photo and then showed them. "Do you like this one, or do we need another?"

They all clambered for another. I took several more, but they weren't satisfied. Finally, one of my regulars said, "Why don't we get Tamaki to take a picture of you with us?" All the other girls liked this idea, so I sat in the middle of all of them. They wrapped their arms around my neck, but those who couldn't reach me wanted to hug, too, so it ended up like one big group hug. Tamaki took a picture and showed it to us. They all agreed that this one was best.

"Well, it's probably because Tamaki took it. Although, I think he does better in front of the lens than behind it, don't you, ladies?" I smiled at them, and they all agreed. Tamaki wasn't his usual self, though. He accepted the complement with next to no enthusiasm, and I wanted to reach out and hug him, but I couldn't with everyone here. Making a big show of looking at my watch, I said, "Isn't it about time for club to be over, Tamaki?"

"Yeah." He walked sullenly back to his guests, saying nothing else. Soon after Tamaki started getting sad, Kyoya ended business for the day. My regulars all made a faux fuss about having to go, so I decided to throw some more helplessly romantic lines at them.

"Oh, my beautiful friends! It will be torture to go without you for the next two days, but that will make our reuniting on Monday all the more sweeter." I gently ran my finger across one's face, following her jawbone. Giving her my sultry eyes, she almost fainted. It still amazed me that these girls were so ready for romance that they'd swoon at the faintest touch.

Reluctantly, they left, along with all the other guests. I did my part in cleaning up, but made sure I went into the back room when I could be alone with Tamaki. I tried to ask him what was wrong, but he just grunted. Ooh, I really wanted to kiss him as senseless as I had in the limo almost six weeks ago, but I really didn't know where we stood. After that encounter, we had hung out a few times, but there had been no more intimacy than if he had been with Kyoya or the twins. I was afraid to be clingy and push him away, but I wasn't good at interacting with people, so I had no idea what to do. Finally, I just let my emotions overtake me and took the tray out of his hands, set it down on the counter, and pushed Tamaki against the wall.

"I have really, _really _wanted you to kiss me for the past 6 weeks," I whispered in his ear. "I guess you're not going to make the first move though, huh?" I pressed my lips to his, and felt his arms automatically go around my waist. I put mine around his neck and stood on my toes to close the tiny difference in height between us. Pressing myself harder against him, I felt him groan a little into my mouth. He gasped and pulled back.

"We can't do this here," he whispered to me. "What if the club hears us?" He rested his head on mine, his arms still around my waist. I racked my brain, trying to come up with an idea to see him again. Soon. Because I needed him. I was struck by a sudden idea.

"I just got the most obvious idea ever. Meet me at my house after my appointment. I'll text you, okay?" I pulled away from him and almost went out the door, but I caught a look at my reflection. "God, we look like we've been… doing exactly what we were. Come here and let me smooth your hair down a bit." I got both of us presentable, and we went into the main room.

"Are you guys okay? We heard something hit the wall," Kyoya said with no emotion. I almost hit myself. He could have cameras in the rooms and saw the whole thing. Well, it was too late to do anything about it, and he hadn't said anything, so I decided to bluff it out.

"Oh, I fell. But I'm fine." I laughed a little and rubbed the back of my head. "Well, I'd better go. I have an appointment to make." I ran out of the room. Jesus, my face was on fire, and I knew that Tamaki's had shown exactly what he was feeling. God forbid he ever started playing poker; he'd lose everything. I shook my head and tried to calm myself down before meeting my chauffeur.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

"So, doc, am I going to live?" I peeled off my shirt so that the doctor could get to the cast. "I'll tell you, this thing is _super _itchy. And I'm a little nervous about getting it off. I know that the cast saw shouldn't hurt me, but I'm used to things that shouldn't happen happening to me." I kept on nervously chattering for the visit, until the doctor brought out the saw.

I got really still and quiet. I felt the blood drain from my face. My heart started speeding up and I almost started hyperventilating. I started getting dizzy, so I forced myself to calm down. Watching carefully as the doctor turned on the saw, I held my arm rigid while he cut. When he got about half way up, I started to feel sick and couldn't watch anymore. Finally, the saw turned off.

"Thanks, doc." I opened my eyes hesitantly. "Um, do you have a place where I can throw up?" He handed me a wastebasket and I dry-heaved for a second. "Nope, false alarm." I handed him the basket and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. "That was completely terrifying," I said in a conversational tone.

"Yes, the saw can be a little scary. But I thought you would be used to it." He glanced down at my file. "You've had seven broken bones since you were eight, not counting this time." He looked at me curiously. I laughed a little.

"Yeah, I'm really into dirt bikes and stuff like that. I fall off a lot." The lie slipped off my tongue smoothly. Well, it wasn't really a lie; I did like dirt bikes, and I did fall of a lot, but that's not where I got the fractures. He didn't need to know that, though.

"Well, you're good to go. Make sure you exercise your arm, and no more bikes for a while. We don't want you back in here too soon, do we?" He smiled and opened the door for me. I quietly made my way to the front of the orthopedist's office, where a surprise was waiting for me. In the middle of the waiting room was the Host Club.

"What are you guys doing here? Aren't you supposed to be on your ways home or something?" I tried to hide how pissed off I was. I was supposed to be going to spend quality alone time with Tamaki. Now everyone was here, the chances of that happening were slim to none. "It's not like I need an entire entourage. You all didn't have to come."

"But we wanted to check up on you!" The twins crowded around me and started poking my arm. "You're our new toy, and broken toys aren't any fun." I smacked their hands away, and they started pouting. "That's not nice, Lark! You shouldn't hit us!"

"I don't care if it's not nice. It's not nice to poke people, either." I took a deep breath. "So, is everyone coming to my house again? I really just want to go sleep. I hate that stupid cast saw." I shivered.

I could see that Tamaki just wanted to come over and hug me, but he wasn't going to with everyone here. I rubbed my arm nervously. It was still really itchy, but I didn't want to break the still tender skin. This was starting to get a little uncomfortable, no one talking or moving. I looked at the door behind the club longingly.

"I'm… gonna go now…" I sprinted for the door. Mori hooked the back of my jacket. I was yanked to a halt. "Hey! Let me go!" I squirmed, my feet about an inch above the floor.

"No running," Mori said, pointing to a sign on the receptionist's desk. Damn. He was right.

"Fine, just put me down. And I'll ask again. Are you all coming over to my house?" I glanced at Tamaki, willing for him to come up with a reason to send everyone else home. Sadly, he just looked glad that everyone was getting along. Damn.

"Kyoya said that we could." Hunny jumped off of Mori's back, and I caught him just before he hit the ground. He giggled. "Nice catch!" I rolled my eyes and slung him onto my back.

"Everyone taking their own cars, or are we all riding in mine?" I could have hit myself. I didn't want everyone in my limo. But the idea was in their head, so everyone piled into mine. I tapped on the glass separating me from the driver. "The intercom is broken, and I haven't gotten it fixed yet," I apologized.

"That's okay." It was still a little awkwardly quiet. Me and Tamaki were the only ones saying anything. The rest were watching us curiously. It was like they were waiting for us to touch each other, or offer some sign that there was a relationship going on.

I closed my eyes. I tried to think if we had given any signals off. As far as I knew, I hadn't been anything but politely courteous, and Tamaki had been his usual self. Which could have done it; he was clingy and insane, like he always was. The only thing I could think of was that Kyoya knew the whole time and told.

"How long have you known, Kyoya," I asked wearily. "And why did you tell the club?" I laid my head back and waited for an answer. I could almost feel his smirk.

"There was no reason to keep it secret." I should have known that he was just being himself. "And I need some amusement, too." He chuckled.

"That's a foul thing to do." I kept my eyes shut. If I opened them, I would fly into a rage. I got a fine Irish temper, along with the ginger coloring, from my mother. She didn't take crap from anybody. I, however, really didn't have an option here.

"Es macht spass verwirrung mit Tamaki's gehirn." Kyoya laughed. "Und jetzt sieht er aus wie erexplodiert, weil er seinen Namen hörte, und hat keine Ahnung, was wir sagen wollen." How he knew I spoke German, I had no idea. Oh wait; we were in the same class… **(Translations in bottom author note!)**

"Est ist nicht fair, ihn so zu ärgern. Es ist nicht seine schuld, er ist… Naïve." I tried to pick a word that wasn't too mean, but that was the best I could come up with. To hide my word choice, I buried it in indignation. "Er ist dein bester Freund, und Sie machen sich lustig über ihn!"

"Stop talking in German! It's not fair to everyone else!" Tamaki started pouting, and everything is back to normal.

"You're the only one that doesn't speak German." I laughed at him. His sadness was so theatrical, I could see why Kyoya liked messing with him.

"Not true! The twins don't!" He crossed his arms, feeling smart. I raised an eyebrow.

"Do they care?" He had a point, but I had a better one. I laughed at his face; he looked like a robot who ran out of batteries. Now that everyone knew about us, I stopped holding myself so rigidly and let my leg touch his. He jumped and his face reddened a bit. Leaning over, I whispered in his ear, "It's not like we've never touched before." I wagged my eyebrows suggestively.

"I know, but it's weird to even touch in front of the club," he whispered back just as quietly. "We've been careful not to give any signs, and bad habits die hard." I tried and failed to stop from laughing.

"Tamaki, l'espace personnel n'est pas une mauvaise habitude!" With Tamaki, I spoke French, because we were the only ones in the club who did, as far as I knew. Everyone was looking at us. "What?" I tended to get defensive around people, especially when they were looking at me like that.

"You guys are just so natural," Kaoru said. Hikaru said, "It's amazing we didn't see it before." I could see a thought occur to him. "Hey, why didn't you tell us before? You've told us everything since you joined the club!" They started a very Tamaki-like pouting session. I laughed.

"I have not told you guys everything! I'm a very deep person, I swear. There is no way I could have told you everything about me in three months." I crossed my arms. "I can't believe that you'd think I'd be such an open book as to tell you everything about me." I tapped my head and started a pouting session of my own.

I started muttering to myself in Italian, but stopped when Kaoru squeezed in between Tamaki and me. That meant I had one twin on both sides. I always got nervous when they surrounded me. Each of them put an arm around my neck and leaned in close to my face.

"Why'd you stop? When you speak Italian, your mouth tilts in the cutest way." They were doing that thing where the talked at the same time. They each poked my mouth gently. I batted their hands away and pushed Kaoru out of the seat. "That wasn't nice, Lark!"

All of a sudden, everything got kind of fuzzy and I felt a bit woozy, which immediately escalated into full-blown vertigo. I pounded on the divider and told the driver to stop, then threw open the door and bounded to the side of the road. I fell to my knees, not caring if my pants got wet from the dewy grass. My back arched in pain as I started dry-heaving again. I hadn't ate anything today, so there was nothing to vomit but stomach acids and bile. A bit of this spewed up in the end, burning my throat and coating the grass in a sickly yellow color.

"Are you alright, Lark?" Tamaki put his hand on my back and crouched near where I was. I shook my head miserably.

"I'm having a delayed reaction to the saw, I think. That thing terrifies me." I shivered and rubbed my arms. While I was being sick, it had started to drizzle. "We should get Haruhi to someone's house before it starts storming hard." Tamaki nodded and helped me stand up. I walked shakily back to the car, stooping in and sitting down heavily.

Tamaki took over, asking who's house was closest and directing the driver there. I rested my head on my knees and tried not to get sick again. Everyone was focused on Haruhi, even though she didn't want anyone fussing over her. She didn't quite get that they were going to fuss over her no matter what she wanted, because that's what they did. It was perfectly fine with me that everyone was ignoring me, because I felt like an extremely large mass of bleh and wanted to recede within myself. I felt worse than I had ever.

When the car stopped, I lurched forward dangerously and heaved myself out of the car. I moved out of the way so everyone could get out. I wasn't quite sure where we were, but it looked like a nice neighborhood, if a little bit of a lower standard than we were used to, but still nice. We rushed Haruhi inside and made sure she got someplace small where she could hide. After she was taken care of, I slipped out of the front door quietly to watch the storm.

I shivered. It was cold, but I didn't want to go back in to get my jacket. I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around my legs, just watching the rain pound down on the pavement. It relaxed me, and I started feeling drowsy. I fell asleep, the cool mist rolling off the rain comforting me as I drifted off.

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><p><strong>The translations are in order:<strong>

**(German: It's fun to mess with Tamaki's brain. And now he looks like he wants to explode because he heard his name, and has no idea what we're saying. It's not fair to tease him like that. It's not his fault he is… Naïve. He's your best friend, and you make fun of him!)**

**(French: Tamaki, personal space is not a bad habit!)**

**Oh, and sorry for the weird ending place. I've been working on this for a while, and I finally just got tired of it. I'm starting the next chapter immediately, so don't worry, and again, sorry for the long wait.**


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